Red Apple
by x Little Puppet x
Summary: Science is slowly wiping out the wizarding world, but how? Perhaps a reaper of death knows the answer, as he dangles temptingly over humanity a forbidden lure to entice those to give him what he wants. Full summary inside. Eventual BL/slash


6969= change scene

" "= speaking

' '= thoughts

Disclaimer- I don't own Harry Potter or any of the copyright stuff involved, this is fan-fiction written just for fun and no profit or gain. Thank you.

Summary- Science is slowly wiping out the wizarding world, but how? Maybe a reaper of death knows the answer, as he interferes with the help of a forbidden lure that he dangles over humanity, enjoying manipulating the greed of those he sees as being below him. Set many years after the books to begin with. Rated T, Eventual mild BL/slash/violence/abuse/torture etc

Red Apple (' )

Minus one – The Reapers Temptation

Music blasted out all around, pounding into the skulls of the tipsy crowd within the eighteen plus exotic nightclub, all that could be heard was the continuous thud of the bass pumping out of massive speakers. Leaving to find somewhere that was slightly quieter after being deafened for at least two hours, a lone figure emerged, shaking its head, hating the way the ground thudded as he walked away. Eventually coming to yet another place full of half-naked people dancing about for his enjoyment he went inside a bit too eagerly.

A scientist by trade he had always claimed to have worked hard his entire life for the beautiful things he possessed, but things in the world had recently fallen on to hard times. Thus leading to him having nothing but a scruffy worthless rental flat and what he believed to be a pointless job, in summary the man hated his life. But instead of sorting things out, he took to ignoring his family problems and instead began enjoying the night life of the city, even though that too was nearing a Wild West type place. Unlawfulness had spread since the collapse of the government; those that had been a part of the police service instead used their weapons and knowledge to take over small areas, selling drugs to desperate people eventually growing their territories. Never getting recognition for his genius or his talent in the arts of science and magic, he had grown bitter and resentful to others. He had never cared for anything other than his own selfish desires; he didn't even care for his family any more, the trophy wife and spoilt children he had at home. Even now after devastation had hit he cared not even for the state of his own world, which was previously barely recovering from being half obliterated by yet another war. Well, one night this man was once again sat inside a dank little strip bar, after having beer after beer to drown his self-induced sorrow he found himself over hearing a small group's conversation, a scowl appearing on his face at the fact he could hear them.

"It's over; of course we're are all grateful for that, but the question is what happens next? After last time, it barely lasted thirty years and things have gone from bad to worse with the criminal way things are being run not just here but elsewhere too."

"After all the Ministry is in ruins, what with it being half destroyed. Not to mention Gringotts and of course the state that Hogwarts is in again but it's not just our governments it's them as well the muggle's like."

"Yes there's a lot that needs to be done. Our world is never peaceful is it? What with magic now fading away ugh though that is only a rumour, still here's to the good times'." They chinked their glasses together before beaming happily and continuing on their chatter of the exotic dancers on a lighter note.

Agitated to an unrelenting anger by the cheerfulness of the others he drained the liquid from his glass put it back down now empty on the stained bar and left, ignoring the partially dressed woman who had just demanded he pay her. Slugging about as the alcohol took effect in his already drink abused body he found himself out in the almost refreshingly bitter cold night air. Not even realising that he had been sweating from the heat inside, he groaned pulling at his sticky shirt, shuddering as the wind caught him. Coughing he pulled his coat around himself, the middle of winter had taken him by surprise as he only just noticed the thick snow covering the ground. Rolling his eyes he vented his hate for the others around him, narrowly avoiding confrontation with what looked like a gang of thugs lurking nearby.

"Everybody is a damn somebody, everybody has something to do that's important. What do I have?" he growled looking up at the cloudy night sky, "bloody muggle's, bloody wizards, I hate all of you."

Waltzing, heavily drunk down a nearby alley, with only one purpose in his mind, he snapped when he saw a scrawny tattered attired young muggle man rummaging through some bins nearby. He had clearly fallen on hard times as well, judging by his unwashed appearance and stained clothes.

"Looking for some easy money kid?" He slurred laughing, the youngster ran off quickly frightened by the man. "Where you going! Pfft, little bitch's lucky to be alive."

Slumping down in the alley he groaned throwing up the vile contents of his intoxicated stomach. Head pounding he moaned complaining about it to no one, but just as he leant against the wall in front and even over his frantic panting he heard something heavily thud down behind him. Instantly he turned around, wondering if it had been someone trying to mug him, only to have just died from the cold.

"What the…?"

There was no one there but something he noticed was glistening oddly out of place in the dirty alleys pile of trash. It was an apple, perhaps just an ordinary apple but the colour of the fruit was almost fiery and as soon as he looked at it he felt like everything he had asked for had been answered. Snatching it up, he devoured it greedily, laughing manically as everything around him span becoming blazing. A brilliant red light seemed to make him shut his eyes and as soon as they opened he saw a peculiar place, though in some ways it reminded him of his own flat. It was like looking into an excessive hoarder's home, there was so much all around he didn't quite know where to look until he saw it, well he thought it was an It. A large chequered chair sat in the very middle of the strange room, with an unusual tall humanoid creature sitting in it; the creature wasn't looking towards him, but even so knew that he was there. This creature had an odd human-ish face, a thin skeletal body and as it lifted its hand to gesture to him, the scientist grimaced, its flesh was torn and hanging away from its bones. It wore a tattered set of grey clothes, which looked like some kind of standard issue uniform. Also he noticed something that protruded from its back; there were ratty wing type things that looked like they had been torn by just ware itself. Also not seeming to care that its hair was revoltingly scruffy and hanging long one side, it lazily glanced over to him. Eyes that were off centre and miss coloured. It had been looking at a small cluttered chess board to its right. The board didn't have chess pieces on it though, it had rather odd little bits of folded up paper scattered on it. Perhaps he wondered, a strange form of origami.

"Oh oh, welcome," the creature said almost uninterested, eerily indicating for him to sit on what appeared to be a feathered cushion that was barely visible surrounded by the piles of things, just in front of the chair.

"What, what are you?" he demanded eyes wide not approaching, thinking to himself it was the last time he would ever drink to this extent.

"Heh, no no I'm not a fabrication of your useless human imagination, I'm a Demon of sorts or a Reaper, name's Sheendo," he pointed to himself, "or Shin Do either way, so I saw you liked my gift human?" His voice was scratchy and unnatural to the human's ears; it sent cold shudders down his spine.

It was only when the scientist turned away from the unpleasant sight and saw what was hiding behind the large chair; it interested him in an instant. It was a glistening blood red scythe like you unfortunately would imagine death to be carrying around trying to cut people down with. But even though he believed this creature to be death himself, he wasn't. He was only an underling, a very lesser underling, with a very unique ability to entice humans to do his bidding. All with a small red apple that he had pinched from the ancient recipe book belonging to a higher reaper. It wasn't something the other reapers cared for, they didn't particularly enjoy the games or bargaining around with humans, but this reaper did. After all, it passed the time.

"You mean that weird yet delicious apple? That was you're doing?" The scientist could feel himself sobering up, his head felt clear and his longing to throw up had gone completely he wanted to know if it was the creatures doing.

"Well…yes," he grinned, a frightening twisted mouth grin, showing the blood freely dripping from a tooth that was half lodged in his jaw, at an unnatural angle. "You found my apple because you desire something, so what is that you most desire?"

"Well like most people I want quite a lot of things, but I'd say what I have always wanted is recognition," he said back calmly, finding it increasingly difficult to look at the strange creature who was now chewing the end of his own fingertip thoughtfully, pulling off bits of grey flesh as if it were ordinary dead skin. "Or to be able to _take_ whatever I like."

"Ha, I had a human that said that to me once, I gave him a wizard orphan to play with. But moving on swiftly, that's an interesting first request, I can of course help you obtain that you know," he smirked sitting up suddenly wiping at the blood dripping from his mouth. "But are you interested enough in my proposition? I do so hate having my time wasted."

"Well what's the catch demon?" Asking the obvious made the demonic reaper roll his unnatural eyes.

"Catch? No not a catch, a price, there is always a price, oh yes you have to offer me something in return of course." He sat back in his chair resting his head on his normal looking right hand.

"Like what?"

"It can be anything, so long as it's interesting to me." He turned draping his legs over an arm of the chair, lying back lifting his hand and pretending to shoot up at the ceiling.

"What does a demonic reaper find interesting?"

"Oh… lots of things," he gestured around the cluttered room, before he pulled something out from under his tattered cloak, a small identification tag of sorts. "Like this. Or perhaps I suppose the thing I desire most is, unfortunately something I can no longer obtain, but maybe you can help me somewhat."

With a flick of his wrist he threw the small tag to him; on the tag were informative details, the name of an old long forgotten orphanage, a date and the name of a boy. The name the man didn't recognise and this disappointed the demon to some extent, but as the human looked up at the demon he raised his eyebrows.

"Why is this old thing so interesting to you?" He turned it over, "it's just a name tag."

"Well I do happen to like knickknacks, but that's no ordinary note or tag as you call it, do you believe human that innocence is a separate part of the soul?" he grinned, letting his head fall back again as he looked up at the-none existent ceiling. "As if something so traumatic could occur that your soul literally, I really do mean literally, fell to pieces?"

"In some cultures, it is believed separate things make up the human soul or spirit yes so I suppose by those standards it could indeed be possible."

"Oh," he paused, pointing his hand to the old tag, "like this?"

There was a strange moment as he saw the ghostly apparition of the frame of a small boy curled up eyes shut and hands over his ears appear.

"What the…?"

"I'll throw that in for free if your offer's good enough, so then human, what do you have to offer me?"

"I'll give you anything," he said it without a moment's hesitation.

"Oh?" at that the strange creature sat up straight seemingly excited it had been quite a while since he had made a deal with a human. "I thought you'd like that being of magical descent, and yet you are a scientist," his strange black eyes shimmered green as he gazed at the man. "But I wasn't expecting such generosity."

"Are you interested in souls then?" asking calmly, arms folding over his chest.

"Hmm, yes I suppose, they do fascinate me." The scientist looked away, feeling his stomach going as the demon pulled its own eye out and replaced it with another from inside his jacket. This eye span around all by itself, as if paranoid.

"You never know whose about," he sneered,

"So then I will trade you my entire family, you can have their souls in exchange for-"

"Recognition?" the reaper tilted his head thoughtfully, "your entire family just for that?"

"And this," he lifted up the strange tag. "I'll also want your help creating what we both seem to want, after all you want me to create human life don't you demon?"

"Heh, Ah, you read me like a manual, I will give you what you need, after you have given to me _all_ of your family members. You know the only way to claim another's soul don't you?"

"There are two ways, but killing someone is kinder then the other way."

"True, then we have a deal?"

"We have a deal," he smirked unable to believe his good fortune. He had heard stories about the demon of fortune, said to give anything a human could ever desire and had always longed to know if it was true or not. Like many others he had refused to accept such a childish story but now after what he had seen, he felt truly like his destiny was to out shine any other humans, to become greater than anyone ever had been.

Unfortunately, the greed of humanity knows no limits and what the man agreed to do for the demon was of the purest evil, to murder your loved ones in return for power. After hailing a cab, home he went, after a moment of standing there staring at them he decided, it was worth it. Butchering without any more hesitation his wife, their two sons and his daughter simply to gain what he wanted. The demon seeing what he had done laughed and demanded more from him, collecting the souls happily. So the man murdered his mother, his father, his brother, his uncles, aunts and cousins, whatever the demon asked him to do he did. When the demon was truly satisfied, more couldn't give a damn anymore because he was bored, he gave the man what his desire was, leaving medical buildings and facilities to him with ease. The tag he left attached to a strange machine within the labs, a note stuck to the front of it.

'Recognition for creating a human's life, won't that be amazing? You would be called a god; perhaps even your entire world would finally become peaceful.'

An empty layer in the reaper realm became the demons after the souls he had stripped of their over worldly magic. It was full of nothing but insane laughter as the demon now delighted as the man had clearly become a puppet to insanity and desire began experimenting on him-self and others. Years passed by, flying without noticing he had what he wanted, recognition, a whole pharmaceutical company that he was in control of. With the demons help he finally one day achieved his darkest desire, the creation of an actual human life. But it was short lived.

Whilst this demon was thrilled with what he could before him if only for a brief instant, but then felt a vile disappointment, the boy that the man had spent so long trying to create was weak and so fragile that his skin and blood didn't have the right properties and cells to heal him. The boy had no magical talent he was worthless in the demon's eyes so the reaper cut off the deal with the man, told him he was on his own until he truly gave him what he had asked for when they had first made their deal. Even the man's family had been dull; none of them had been willing to make a deal with him so after harvesting their talents for himself he threw them into the life stream within the reapers realm itself.

He was no closer to getting what he wanted, even after all this time, given resources to someone he believed would be able to do it, yet still he felt empty handy. Even though he broke off the deal, he watched the scientist always, just in case one day his desire did come true. His eyes never left them, part of him enjoying the abuse the boy suffered at the scientists hands, but it wasn't enough, he wanted him to know who he truly was, so that when that moment came he would finally after all this time have what he had always desired.

6969

"Well then," he poked at the eyes of the bound human thoughtfully, before forcing a strange curved blade through it, taking the eyes simply for profit. "Your sight in exchange for your ability to walk?" the demon grinned, "agreed."

Turning away as the human disappeared back to its own world he picked up an apple from a nearby bowl that sat near to him, resting on a large ornate table. Sinking his perfect teeth into it and groaning at the forbidden taste the reaper couldn't help but lap up his surroundings, for he was no longer on the bottom rung of the reaper ladder. Instead he was almost at the top, where he desired to be, amongst the Shinigami-sama's top reapers yet still his own greed hadn't been stopped. A nearby mirror shone his reflection and he couldn't help but smirk at it, "beautiful, I am finally beautiful."

The more magic he gained through deals the more human in appearance he became thus after a while it made it easier for him to lure in even more humans. Even the simple offer of an apple to a witch in a hospital gave him even more power, the woman traded him her power for the man she loved to survive his accident. It was the easy deals like that that made his life so much easier. He was starting to enjoy how messed up the human world had become, he could lure any one to him and that made him feel like a true god of death.

6969

End of chapter

That's chapter minus one done XD and it's minus one because although it's a prelude to the main story itself I don't think it's quite informative enough to be just a prologue on its own so please bear with me here XP. As it is my first fanfic I would really appreciate constructive reviews too; I've always had a problem with my grammar I still need to practice, thank you very much for reading!

(Written listening to daft punk, wonderful stuff to write to)


End file.
